As a former law school dean and professor, and a constitutional litigator for nearly thirty years, I have lived my professional life in accord with the principle that the rule of law must prevail. But that is not what happened in a Manhattan courtroom where a partisan Democrat District Attorney and a Biden-donating judge helped facilitate the conviction of Donald Trump on 34 fake felony counts.
It didn’t happen in my California State Bar case, either, when a judge recommended that I be disbarred from the practice of law based on a complaint that originated with a leftwing lawfare group.
President Trump is now facing a potential prison sentence and must appeal, hoping that higher legal authorities will step in and restore the rule of law.
I am in a similar position in California, needing to appeal the disbarment ruling in the hope that higher legal authorities will step in and restore the rule of law. But to add insult to injury, I am being prohibited from practicing my chosen profession while I appeal, unable to earn income as a lawyer and unable to represent my clients in court to help them fight back against government overreach and defend their constitutional rights. At least President Trump can continue to run for president during his appeal of his conviction.
The question now before the legal system is whether the rule of law can survive the unprecedented lawfare attack that has been unleashed on President Trump and me as his former lawyer and adviser on the Constitution. I need your immediate financial support of my Legal Defense Fund so that I can fight to restore the rule of law in America.
Given what we’ve witnessed in Manhattan and California, whether the rule of law can survive lawfare is very much an open question. There are several active cases underway right now that put the question into sharp focus.
Let’s take my recent indictment in Arizona as a case in point. The main allegations in this case all involve the claim that electoral votes were cast by “fake electors,” electors who falsely claimed to be the duly elected electors from Arizona. I am being accused of conspiring to help orchestrate and implement the “fake elector” scheme which, the lawfare left claims, was designed to allow Vice President Pence to select the slate of “fake electors” to represent Arizona in the Electoral College count.
The term “fake electors” is an entirely political term used by the left (and repeated without challenge by the propaganda media). There was no “scheme” to substitute “fake electors” for actual electors. Let’s look at what went down in Arizona.
First off, there were election challenges in court and serious assessment of election illegality by the legislature pending at the time the state was required to name their electors. Because of this, the challengers were required to follow existing Arizona law governing contested elections that permit a challenger to establish “contingent electors” who would become electors only if the pending election challenges were successful.
Per Arizona law (A.R.S. 16-676(C)): The Arizona election was still “contingent” as long as an election challenge was pending, because if the election challenge had resulted in a ruling in favor of Trump, “the certificate of election of the person whose office is contested is of no further legal force or effect.”
So, what happened in Arizona was not some illegal conspiracy to steal the 2020 election in that state. It was an entirely legal process that preserved the ability to have Arizona’s electors counted by the Electoral College if – and only if – President Trump’s challenges in Arizona were successful.
In fact, the State admits in their indictment that the Trump electors were casting contingent votes because election challenges were still pending.
There’s another critical element to the Arizona case that bears immensely on me: I had nothing to do with challenging the Arizona election results. I had zero communication with any of the Arizona electors, and zero involvement in any of the Arizona election litigation.
We’ll see if the rule of law prevails in Arizona any more than it did in Manhattan. An initial status conference is scheduled for July 2nd, and various motions will likely be filed – including motions to dismiss the case.
The battle that I am waging on behalf of the rule of law is difficult, and extremely expensive. I’ve already spent well over $1 million in legal fees fighting the lawfare assault against me, and I’m looking at an additional $2 million or more in expenses before all is said and done.
The lawfare left has already taken away my ability to practice law even while I appeal the outrageous disbarment recommendation in California. They are now determined to put me in prison in Arizona and Georgia based on the false allegations they have made.
It is my urgent hope and prayer that people of goodwill like you will step forward with a generous emergency financial donation to my defense fund.
Because I have been prevented from practicing law by the California State Bar judge while I appeal her outrageous disbarment recommendation, I cannot earn income as a lawyer and thus contribute to my own defense with funds I would otherwise be earning as a lawyer. That means I have to count on the generosity of good people like you to help cover the millions of dollars in legal costs I am facing to defend myself.
Your emergency donation to my legal defense fund is urgently needed if I am to have the resources needed to fight. Please consider a donation today of whatever you are able to do – $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or even $1,500 or more.
The principle that the rule of law must prevail that I’ve defended for nearly 30 years as a law school professor and constitutional litigator is central to the survival of America as a free society. It’s what makes our nation the shining city on the hill, a truly free republic that stands in sharp contrast to banana republics where the law is contorted in any way the powerful wish in order to punish their enemies.
Arizona is not Manhattan – nor is Georgia – so I am hopeful that the rule of law will fare better in those jurisdictions. But it won’t prevail without a fight, and I urgently need your financial support to win that fight.
Thank you for your friendship and prayers. My family and I will be extremely grateful for any help you can provide as we work to restore the rule of law and do our part to save America from the radical left.
Sincerely,
John Eastman
Constitutional Scholar
Attorney for President Donald Trump